Emma Weber swam to her first US Olympic roster after finishing 2nd in the women’s 100 breaststroke touching in a 1:06.02. Weber already had plans to travel to Paris for the Olympics but as a spectator. Now, she is traveling as an athlete.
The news was revealed in one of the many of the TikToks that the US women’s swimming and open water roster have been making in their free time while at training camp in Cary, North Carolina. The women’s team made an “I’m passing the phone to someone who ____” video and Alex Shackell can be seen passing the phone to “The person who booked their flight to Paris to watch but ended up making the team and had to cancel their flight.” The phone is then passed to Weber.
@anna_peplowski Team USA pass the phone challenge #teamusa #parisolympics
Weber entered the women’s 100 breaststroke as the #4 seed with a 1:06.50 entry time but was seeded behind World Record holder Lilly King (1:04.75) and 2020 Tokyo Gold Medalist Lydia Jacoby (1:05.16) along with Kaitlyn Dobler (1:05.48).
Weber’s swim for 2nd place was a huge swim, marking a personal best by 0.48 seconds. Despite the huge swim, Weber has previous international experience for the US as she finished 4th in the 100 breaststroke at 2023 US Summer Nationals and went on to represent the US at the 2023 Pan Am Games.
Booking a flight to watch the Games would have supported numerous of Weber’s collegiate teammates as she swims at the University of Virginia. The Hoos also placed Alex Walsh, Gretchen Walsh, and Kate Douglass on the roster. All three currently train in Charlottesville. The team is also represented by Virginia alum Paige Madden and Virginia commit Thomas Heilman. Weber’s coach Todd DeSorbo is the head coach of the women’s team in Paris.
That would be a fun conversation with the airline. I’m not sure if you have to give a reason why you don’t need the ticket any longer, but I would be sure to give that reason if I were in that situation.
I have known people who booked their flights to Trials before getting their cuts but doing that with Olympics is next level badass lol
She booked to watch though… not the same
That’s literally what they were saying….. just with trials and not the Olympics